Over the past four decades we have had more knowledge and facts about domestic violence. At the same time, substantial controversy has been generated over who is the perpetrator in the relationship and who are the victims of domestic violence. Feminist advocates and practitioners have always identified women as the targets and victims of abuse, with male partners and former partners forming the large majority of perpetrators. However, increasingly there have been counterclaims regarding gender symmetry in domestic violence (Hester, 2009).
The raging debate of domestic violence has added to the changing public opinion regarding the subject of domestic violence. Various surveys indicate that community approaches have …show more content…
Feminist scholars focus on violent behavior in which the perpetrator coerces and controls their partners to have control of the benefits and resources in that relationship (Straus, 2009). This becomes the motivation behind the domestic violence in most relationships. Some cases of violent can, therefore, not qualify to be referred to as domestic violence. For instance, if a person is violent on a single occasion because of anger; rather than to control their partner, it cannot be classified as domestic violence (Reed et al. 2010). Likewise, an individual who is violent as a defense mechanism, retaliation and frustration because of prolonged periods of abuse against them, they would not be considered as perpetrators of domestic violence. In contrast, family engagement scholars do not have this distinction and regard that any form of violence between partners falls under domestic violence. Straus (2010), initially argues that the motivation of violence is not important in the examination of domestic violence. However, he together with other family conflict scholars agrees that the motivation for violence in both male and female perpetrators is the …show more content…
Consequences for domestic violence victims are regarded by feminist scholars as dire to the comprehension of domestic violence. Victims often worry about their safety and that of others, experience of physical and psychological trauma, homelessness or financial deprivation. Fear is a critical consideration assumed that fear for personal safety and those of others is important is a critical result of violence and is fundamentally bound to create control and coercion (Straus, 2009). Family engagement analysts do not place emphasis on outcomes for victims of violence, even though an injury is measured. Certainly, while recognizing that females are expected to undergo more harms than males as a result of partner violence, family engagement scholar’s treat this finding with limited importance, since they consider it to have little significance on the estimates of perpetration of domestic violence by men and women (Reed et al.,